Random Rantings

I've been meaning to write about this for a long time. My work # is one digit away from a telemarketer's number. The difference seems to be a zero vs. an eight. You would be SHOCKED at the number of people in this country who: 1) call random #s back that show up on their caller id; and 2) can't tell the difference between an 8 and a 0. When I get to work after a weekend or even just overnight, I can tell that my telemarketer was at work because I'll have 8 or more missed calls with any number of voicemail messages ranging from "Don't ever f***ing call me again." (to which I respond, "I didn't, you idiot.") and "I'm just returning your call." Who the bloody hell calls telemarketers back????

2nd rant of the day has to do with people who do not appreciate window seats. I'm not talking about on the plane, because I'm an aisle person myself. I'm talking about at work. I work in a massive building (I've been told it holds 6500 people) and up until they moved my group to Building C (for Crappy) I always had a window seat (to me, a window seat is any desk from which you can see the window w/o having to stand up. I was always a row or two away from the window, but again, to me, that's a window seat. Since the move in September back to Building A (for Fabulous – although it's really not, just is in comparison to Building C) I'm stuck a good six rows from the window, but besides that there's a supervisor cube just on the other side of my row toward the window and supervisor cubes are higher than regular peon employee cubes. And to top it off, the jackass supervisor has a huge poster board of something jutting up an additional 3 feet (almost to the ceiling). Anyway, in all the years (six) that I had a window seat, I never once closed the blinds and my computer screen always faces the window so there's a glare. To me, when you're stuck inside working for 8+ hours a day, you put up with a little glare and you keep the blinds open, so you can have a clue what the weather is outside. And you don't feel so claustrophobic. Now I literally never have any idea what it's doing outside, unless I check the Freep before leaving. I get in early enough that I will go to the windows and open the blinds before anybody else is in. I had a battle of wills with the group near the windows, until they finally figured it out and there's now a compromise. They leave the blinds open, except on one window. I think the window seat people are spoiled and need to be moved away from the windows and their desks given to people who appreciate a glimpse of the outside – like me!

Here in Michigan I've heard a number of people say that if it's going to be cold they want snow and also that they want to see the sun. I disagree on both scores. First off, snow does NOT make cold weather any more palatable. In fact, to me, it makes it that much worse, because snow sucks – just for the record. And the sun issue? Here's the deal: when it's sunny in Michigan in January or February, you can guarantee that it's bloody cold. Case in point: last week the sun was blindingly bright and it was, as I like to put it, freezing butt cold – negative windchills, etc. Yesterday and today, the temps have been in the 30s and 40s, respectively, and guess what, it's cloudy!! I'd much rather have it be 40 and cloudy than sunny and -20, which is what it's going to be tomorrow. Yup, good ol' Michigan, the temperature is going to have a variance of 60F degrees in less than 24 hours. I'm going to be an unhappy camper walking to work tomorrow. Have I told you that I hate winter? I'm not sure I have.

I leave next Tuesday after work for Vegas. I'm bummed because it's not going to be "Kathleen lying by the pool while HRH takes on the house" weather. ;-( I have no clue what I'm going to do Wednesday & Thursday while HRH plays blackjack. I was hoping to lie by the pool and read a book. Ah well. [Okay, I know that I'm a self-confessed grammarian, but I have to admit that I have always had trouble with lay vs lie. I thought it was people lie on beds, but you lay the book (or some other inanimate object) on the table, but I'm just not sure. Can anybody help me on this point?]

My LB and his girlfriend (whom I quite like – first time ever) are coming down from NorCal and on Friday we're all going to Zion National Park. Saturday we're going to the Valley of Fire and then Sunday, the LB, his GF and I will be going hiking at Red Rock (HRH doesn't hike – she likes looking at nature, but doesn't like to be "in" it). I'm very excited. It'll be nice to see the LB and spend more time with his GF who just seems to be quite lovely.

I finally took a picture of the very cool purse I got for my b-day way back in August that I never posted. I also took a pic of my first knitted lace scarf. I swear I'm going to buy an external hard drive and get my music off the computer and download pictures. Sometime this century you'll be inundated with all the pics I've taken since last April. (Road America, Baltimore, Maine, Vegas, scarves, purses, etc.)